Many computing devices and electronic devices include sensors to provide a seamless and intuitive user experience based on a device's surroundings. For example, a device may exit a sleep state responsive to an accelerometer indicating device movement or a touch screen of the device can be disabled responsive to a proximity sensor that indicates proximity with the user's face. Most of these sensors, however, have limited accuracy, range, or functionality, and are only able to sense a coarse or drastic change of the device's surroundings. Thus, without accurate sensor input, the device is often left to infer different types of user interaction or whether the user is even present, which results in incorrect user input, false or non-detection of the user, and user frustration.
Examples of sensor inaccuracy in the above context include a device that incorrectly exits the sleep state responsive to an accelerometer sensing non-user-related movement (e.g., a moving vehicle) and disabling a touch screen in response to a user holding a device incorrectly and partially obstructing the proximity sensor. In such cases, a device's battery can be run down due to inadvertent power state transitions and user input through the touch screen is disrupted until the user moves his hand. These are just a few examples of sensor inaccuracy that can disrupt the user's interactive experience with the device.